Chapter 29 : Merits awards (3)

 

On the faces of the members of the 12th squad, their expressions showed right on their faces .
Perplex, worry, rage, etc .
But most of all, the thing that heated their chest the most was loyalty and comradeship .

‘To get that angry because of a squad member getting beaten up . ’
‘It’s a first seeing someone getting that angry . ’
‘Because of us, it’s because of us . ’

A feeling that they may burst out of tears any time .
And then, the squad members of the 11th squad that were looking at the situation, moved .

“Fuck! Separate them!”
“To resort to violence against someone from a higher rank!”
“His discipline is a mess!”

They seemed to want to hold down Roan immediately .
Then, Austin bit his lower lip and blocked them .

“Fall back!”

Continued by Austin, the remaining squad members aligned at the sides .

“What are you? You aren’t getting away?”

Vice squad commander Walker, of the 11th squad growled .
Austin didn’t get pushed back and talked back .

“You fall back!”

Curses came out .

“This fucking!”
“Fuck, what!”

Austin didn’t lose .
The 11th squad and the 12th glared at each other .
A **** confrontation .
And meanwhile, Roan’s punches continued .

Puk! Pubuk! Puk!

‘If I want to dispirit him, I have to do it certainly . ’

One of the things he learnt the past 20 years .

‘If I step on him sloppily, he will climb up again . ’

Before, he was weak in heart, so he always left things half done .

‘Because of that, it wasn’t only once or twice that I got backstabbed . ’

He didn’t want to repeat those mistakes again .

Puk! Pubuk!

The punches get stuck in Jack’s face continuously .

“Uuuuuuu . ”

It has been long since he already gave up on resisting .
He trembled while surrounding his face with his two arms .

“Fo, fo, forgive me . Fo, forgivemeee . ”

It couldn’t be heard clearly because of the dueling right, but he was certainly begging .
Only then did Roan stop hitting him .

“You shouldn’t apologize to me, but to Glenn . ”

A cold voice .
Jack stood up slowly with a **** face .

“Kugh . Kugh . ”

It was uncomfortable to breathe because of the completely broken nose .
He took out the dueling right that was stuck on his mouth and stood in front of Glenn .

“I, i’m sorry . I was, was wrong . ”

Glenn just nodded slowly at Jack’s miserable face .
An adjutant lowered his head  to a normal soldier .
The 11th squad that was looking the situation bit their lower lips .

“Kugh! Sir adjutant Jack!”
“Sir adjutant!”

At the same time, Jack fell as if he collapsed .
The 11th squad members hurried and supported Jack with their arms .
And then, a rigorous yell was heard .

“What noise is this!”
“What’s happening!”

The owner of the voices were Gale and Keniss .
They walked stomping and frowned after looking at Jack that became a **** mess .

“Just what……”

They couldn’t finish the sentence .
Keniss ordered normal soldiers to move Jack to a tent .

“What happened?”

Meanwhile, Gale asked Roan .

“I will tell you the truth as it is . ”

Roan said the truth without even a trace of lie .

“Mmm . ”

Kenniss and  Gale thought .

‘So Jack was the first to lay a hand . ’
‘I thought that he was only a naive one . ’

The sight of the two people lay on Roan .

“Whew . ”

A deep sigh flowed from Gale’s mouth .

‘He did use a dueling right, but Roan’s action were too severe . ’

Jack’s face became crushed completely .
Roan read Gale’s thoughts and lowered his head .

“Troop commander . Although I used a dueling right because of my squad members, I know that my actions were too excessive . I will take responsibility and leave the seat of adjutant . ”

At those words, the 12th squad shouted with a surprised expression .

“Si, sir adjutant!”
“Sir adjutant Roan!”

And they kneeled down towards Gale and Keniss and bent down .

“Just take away our reward . ”
“Sir adjutant Roan did that simply because of us . ”
“We don’t need no reward . Instead, keep the rank of sir adjutant Roan . ”

A begging voice and attitude .
From the eyes of Gale and Keniss, that were looking at them, shone amazement .

‘It’s only been one month, but he made the guys from other squads to become one . ’

‘To get the trust of the squad members in this short time . ’

They got amazed at Roan’s leading abilities .
Gale and Keniss looked at each other .

‘In the end, the fault is Jack’s . ’
‘On top of that, Roan used the dueling right . ’

Although he exceeded on his actions, it wasn’t that big of a fault to pass a military law .
The two looked at each other and slightly nodded .

“Uhm . Everyone get up . ”

Gale made the members of the 12th squad, that were kneeling, stand up .
They shook off the dust in their clothes and smiled .

“Because the meaning of the squad members is really admirable, I won’t pursue this subject anymore . ”
“Ah……”

Austin and the other members sigh out of relief .
They ran towards Roan and yelled .

“Sir adjutant! How good!”
“It turned out really well!”
“What a relief!”

Really happy voices .
They were happier than when they received the merits awards .
Roan smiled gratified and hugged them all .

“It’s because of you . ”

At those words, Glenn lowered his head .

“Be, because of me, you were about to receive a big punishment . I’m sorry . ”

Roan smiled brightly and grabbed Glenn’s shoulders .

“There’s nothing to feel sorry about . ”

He looked at the squad members surrounding him and said .

“I told you that I will protect you . ”

At those words, Austin broadened his chest as if he couldn’t lose .

“Instead we told you that we will protect you . ”
“Right . We did say that!”
“Right . We said that we would protect sir adjutant . ”

The squad members said and felt happy .
Roan smiled faintly and hugged them once more .
Gale and Kennis looked at them satisfiedly .

“Roan . He will become a good commander . ”

Gale’s words .
Keniss nodded .

“Yes . If he learns well and grows like this, he will become a general . ”

At those words, Gale continued saying .

“Right . Perhaps, a great commander that commands the world . ”

They felt those things drawing on their eyes .

*****

After the scandal of Jack’s face having become a mess, Roan’s status became firm .
Especially, looking at Jack that finished his treatment trembling whenever he saw Roan, the young adjutants couldn’t think about picking a fight against him .
There were some times the 11th squad picked a fight with the 12th, but after they suffered defeat against Pierce, the situation became one that the 11th squad had to be aware of them .
For many reasons, the topology of Roan and the 12th squad kept rising inside rose troop .

“Starting from now, start organizing your stuff . ”
“Yes! Understood!”

Roan replied loudly and got out of the tent .
The smell that was mixed with pieces of metal, blood, horse, and sweat tickled his nose .

Breathe .

Roan took in a deep breath and looked up the sky .

‘After 10 days, is it farewell with Pedian’s plain?’

The tedious monster subjugation tactic finally ended .
After the inundation tactic in Prely river, the 7th corps and Rinse kingsmen kept getting successive victories .
The monsters, that were suffering defeat, started to flee towards the boundaries and Grain’s mountain range .
The people from Rinse kingdom chose not to chase them .
Because having defended Pedian’s plain had achieved their objective .

‘Now, there’s something I have to do before I leave . ’

The thing he was postponing because he was hectic .
Roan slowly moved and crossed rose troop’s camp .
The steps continued outside of it .

Step . Step .

Roan, that walked for a long while taking in some air, walked towards the troops camp that was located on the border of a hill .

“Stop!”

The soldiers that were guarding the entrance blocked Roan .

‘What is this? This greenhorn . ’

Expressions looking down on him .

“This is thorn troop’s camp . Reveal your name and rank . ”

At the words of the big soldier, Roan pointed to his left side of the armor .
There were 5 diagonal sticks sticked on it .

“I’m adjutant Roan and I belong to rose troop of the 7th corps . ”

Then, the soldiers that were dispersed, took on firm postures .
Looks of taking in military discipline .

“Sir!”

‘For this greenhorn to be a class 5 adjutant . ’
‘If I slipped I would have made a big mistake . ’

Just like they haven’t expected it, the perplexment was also that big .
Roan smiled faintly and looked at the soldiers .

“I’m looking for Harrison…… . ”

Even before he finished his sentence, the big soldier replied .

“If you go inside the camp, there will be the 15th squad . He will probably be there . ”
“Thank you . ”

Roan nodded and moved .
As he got further away, the nervous soldiers let out a sigh .

“Whew . What a surprise . I have never thought that that greenhorn was an adjutant . ”

And then, the soldier that was behind him clapped .

Clap!

“Ah! It seems like he is that person!”
“Who?”

The soldiers tilted their heads .
At those reactions, the soldier that said those things smiled and replied shortly .

“Ghost of the battlefield . ”

At that moment, the soldiers let out exclamations .

“Ah! Ghost of the battlefield!”

And then, they turned their heads away and followed Roan’s back .

“I did hear that the ghost of the battlefield was a greenhorn that just finished his training camp…… . . ”
“I thought that he would be well build with big muscles . ”
“He’s really a kid . ”

Voices filled with surprise .
Although they were from another troop, the ghost of the battlefield Roan was also a famous existence for them .
Especially after the inundation tactic in Prely river, he became all the more amazing .

“I should have shook his hands at least . ”

One soldier smacked his lips as if it was regrettable .
At those words, the big builded soldier shook his head .

“Tch tch tch . ”

Clicking the tongue .
The soldier that smacked his lips wanted to say something because of the embarrassment, but the big builded soldier hit his shoulder .

“You can do it when he comes out . ”
“Ah…… . . ”

Exclamations came out from the mouths of the soldiers .
Their sight turns to inside the camp again .

*****

It wasn’t finding the camp for the 15th squad .
Because it was marked outside of it .
Roan carefully got on the camp .

“Who…… . Huk! Sir!”

One soldier that was doing individual maintenance looked at Roan’s rank and saluted .

‘The military discipline in thorn troop is really good . ’

Rose troop was also an excellent troop, but it wasn’t as hard as this .
Roan lightly nodded and looked inside the camp .

“Ah…… . . ”

A low exclamation .
There was a familiar face in the corner of the camp .

‘Harrison . ’

The fellow soldier and friend that died 5 years before Roan .
The guy that died with a big regret, just like himself .

<I had to become an archer instead of a spearman . >

The words he mumbled everyday rang in his ears .
Roan moved slowly and stood in front of Harrison .

“Harrison . ”

A low calling voice .

“Do, do you know me?”

Harrison asked back with a surprised expression .
Roan smiled brightly and nodded .

“I heard the rumors . ”
“Rumors?”

Harrison had a confused face .
Roan extended his hand .

“Shall we shake hands?”
“Yes? Yes . ”

Harrison hurriedly grabbed his hand .
Roan smiled brightly and nodded .

“It’s a really good hand . ”
“Yes?”

Harrison had an expression he couldn’t understand at all .
Roan said in a voice so low it seemed he was whispering .

“It’s a really good hand to shoot an arrow . ”

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